(this mix was made expressly for your edification; you may listen to it here: http://analog97.muxtape.com/)
In this brief article, I'll discuss a sub category of mixtape: the compilation mix. In truth, most of the mixes I made during my mixtape salad days were compilations. A true "mix" took a great deal of time and effort, and was almost always associated with an attempt to woo, attract, or otherwise impress someone. The compilation tape was different. It was an attempt to introduce someone to a particular body of tunes. In my mind, this sub category can be broken into two types of "primer." The first is an Artist Primer, and the second is a Genre Primer.
Artist Primer
I can recall several Artist Primers I would make for pals; I would mostly do this when I became "evangalistic" about a particular artist. I would often see it as my sworn duty to spread the good news. In my mind, the best way to do this was to assemble a great compilation to get folks hooked and spread the gospel. Oten the Artist Primers were made on behalf of artists that were an aquired taste; and remember, this was during the 1980s when FM radio was a real wasteland (isn't it still?). I recall forcefully pressing Artist Primers into the hands of my friends. Memorable examples extolled the virtues of Joy Divison, XTC, Gang of Four, The Minutemen, The Velvet Underground, Johnathan Richman, and later Bill Evans, Miles Davis, and John Coltrane. Some of you were recently subjected to my Artist Primer for the Welsh pop band Gorky's Zygotic Mynci; I love this band so much that this Artist Primer is two volumes: Best of Gorky's and Second Best of Gorky's (if you want 'em, just ask). Below is one of the surviving "Bill Evans Trio" Artist Primers I made in the late 1980s; I still love the Evans/LaFaro/Motain trio and tried to get lots of people interested in them.
Genre Primer
Next we have the Genre Primer. The purpose of this type is to introduce the listener to a particular genre of music. These were among the first mixes I ever made. In the late 70s and early 80s, kids in suburban Detroit classified their musical tastes by radio station. There was WABX (classic rock, formerly free-form), WRIF (classic rock), and W4 (classic rock). With the brief exception of WDET from Wayne State on the weekends, anybody who was interested in sharing music even slightly out of the mainstream needed a cassette deck.
My early mixes were of what we called "New Music" (now properly classified as post-punk). I would make several genre mixes, especially when I became fascinated with African pop in the late 80s and early 90s (I recall doing several mixes with Zairean Soukous on one side and Camerounian Makossa on the other).
Case Study: 1930s Old-Time 78s
To illustrate the Genre Primer, I have put together a mix of tunes that I especially love. Here's an introduction to pre-WWII country music, what we now call "Old Time Music." All of these mono tracks are from 78 rpm records recorded in the 1920s and 1930s.
At the dawn in commercial recording in this country, a number of "genres" popped out as good sellers, and some of these had a huge impact on our current popular music. One genre was so-called "race records," which produced much of the blues that influenced rock and roll, including Robert Johnson, etc. Another were so-called "hillbilly records," which pre-dated Bluegrass and document what was left of some of the white, rural music tradition between the Civil War and WWI.
These scratchy old recordings from the late 1920s and early 1930s found their way into Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music on Folkways Records; this collection of songs was hugely influential on the folk revival of the 1960s. The records cut before the advent of Bluegrass serve as a snapshot of what homemade music was like in the rural American south.
While I loved recordings from the 1930s at a teenager, Old-Time Country music would change my life in my early 20s after quitting a rock and roll band just prior to coming to MCC. Playing old-time string band music was much more compatible with being a college professor. I love old-time because it connects me to a time when people had to make their own music. I hope you enjoy these historic tracks as much as I do.
I love this music more than I can possibly say. The sad fact is that it drives nearly everyone I know crazy; I can only listen to it alone. In fact, as I was making this mix, Kathy asked me to turn it off (and she is very tolerant of my music). There's something about old-time fiddle that some people just can't stand. If you like it, please give a shout.
Local History Note: Track #4 on this mix is by Wade Mainer, a 101 year old resident of Flint, MI. He was an early pionner of country music in the 1930s and 1940s; he moved up here to work in the shop and retired in 1974. He still comes and plays at camps and festivals. I heard him play last summer shortly after his 100th birthday.
Playlist:
- Wade Ward - Lost Indian
- Dock Boggs - Country Blues
- Uncle Dave Macon - Johnny Grey
- Wade Mainer - Mitchell Blues
- Woodie Brothers - Chased Old Satan
- Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers - White House Blues
- The Skillet Lickers - Rocky Pallet
- The Carter Family - Keep On The Sunny Side Of Life
- Clayton McMichen & Riley Puckett - Paddy Won't You Drink Some Good Old Cider?
- Stripling Brothers - Lost Child
- Earl Johnson and the Clodhoppers - Ain't Nobody's Business
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